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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27985074">Jealous</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/platonic_boner/pseuds/platonic_boner'>platonic_boner</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Merlin (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon Era, Fluff, Getting Together, Jealous Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 17:28:15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,948</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27985074</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/platonic_boner/pseuds/platonic_boner</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur decides to start being nice to Merlin. Merlin is very suspicious.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>74</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1269</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Jealous</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written for an anonymous prompt on tumblr for a story where Arthur gets jealous of a visiting lord flirting with Merlin.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Arthur is sparring with Percival. The match has gone on for only a few minutes before Arthur sees an opening.</p>
<p>Arthur twists his sword <em>just</em> right, and Percival’s sword flies out of his hands. Before Percival can recover, Arthur sweeps his legs out from under him, sending him crashing to the ground.</p>
<p>There’s scattered clapping from around the training grounds - it really <em>was</em> a spectacular defeat, Arthur thinks. He turns to make sure Merlin saw it.</p>
<p>Merlin is standing by the training yard fence, but he’s paying absolutely no attention to Arthur. Instead, he’s chatting with one of the visiting lords from Essetir. </p>
<p>Arthur clears his throat and glares pointedly at Gwaine and Lancelot. They’re clearly not doing their job, as they’re <em>supposed</em> to be on Merlin duty - making sure Merlin doesn’t get himself into any trouble with the visiting knights and lords who are here for the tournament that’s to start tomorrow. (Merlin's aggravated enough lords that Arthur has to take precautions, before Merlin starts yet another diplomatic incident, or gets himself hurt.)</p>
<p>Lancelot takes his meaning and turns to look at Merlin, but he doesn’t make any move to interfere.</p>
<p>“That’s just Lord Nathaniel,” Lancelot says, as if this should be reassuring. “He has an excellent reputation as a kind and honourable man.”</p>
<p>“Relax, Princess,” Gwaine adds. “No need to get upset - unless you’re worried about someone else showing Merlin a good time.”</p>
<p>Arthur glances back at Merlin and Lord Nathaniel. He watches them for a few moments, sizing him up: Merlin is speaking animatedly and his posture is relaxed, and the lord looks like he’s listening with interest. So, it doesn’t look like Arthur needs to go over there and break them up.</p>
<p>Still, he doesn’t like it. He <em>really</em> doesn’t like it.</p>
<p>“Fine,” he says to Gwaine, because nothing will get his mind off of Merlin’s apparently requited interest in a handsome lord quite as well as a fight. “If you’re not going to do your job, you can take your turn fighting me.”</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>Lord Nathaniel’s interest in Merlin isn’t a one-off thing. Whenever Merlin isn’t working for Arthur - and sometimes even when he’s <em>supposed</em> to be - they’re together, talking like old friends. Well, like <em>more</em> than friends - Nathaniel uses any excuse to put his hands on Merlin, and Merlin doesn’t seem to be complaining. Even worse, Nathaniel keeps giving him presents - one morning when Merlin comes to wake Arthur up, he’s wearing a new grey scarf that he keeps touching absentmindedly and smiling.</p>
<p>
  <em>Ugh.</em>
</p>
<p>Arthur thinks he’s doing pretty good at not letting his jealousy show, but sometimes - when he’s sure neither of them are looking - he glares at Nathaniel and imagines yanking his hands off of Merlin and breaking his fingers one by one.</p>
<p>“You really don’t need to worry,” Lancelot says one of these times, interrupting Arthur from imagining how satisfying the snapping noises would be.</p>
<p>Arthur looks away, flushing, and Lancelot continues, “Lord Nathaniel is very respectful of Merlin, and very kind. Doting, really.”</p>
<p>“Great,” Arthur says, in a weirdly cheerful tone that sounds to his ears like it’s coming from far away. “Thanks.”</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>Arthur wins the tournament, obviously. The knight he faces in the final is very good, though, and Arthur gets distracted, because in the crowd, Merlin is standing with Lord Nathaniel.</p>
<p>The knight lands several blows in succession. Arthur stumbles and, for a second, thinks he’s going to lose. Then he somehow manages to find his footing and attack again. This time, it's his opponent who stumbles, and Arthur wins the match.</p>
<p>After he shakes hands with his opponent, he looks for Merlin in the crowd again.</p>
<p>He’s squeezing Lord Nathaniel’s hand.</p>
<p>Arthur has never been this jealous in his <em>life.</em></p>
<p>*</p>
<p>Through some discreet investigations, Arthur finds out that Lord Nathaniel is going back to Essetir in two days. Over those two days, Arthur’s terrified every time Merlin opens his mouth, but Merlin doesn’t announce that he’s leaving with him. Arthur gives a sigh of relief when Merlin’s still there the morning after Lord Nathaniel leaves.</p>
<p>This, Arthur decides, can never happen again. Before some other eligible lord gets his eyes on Merlin and <em>isn’t</em> stupid enough to let him slip through his fingers, Arthur needs to make Merlin fall for him.</p>
<p>And thanks to Lord Nathaniel, Arthur knows what Merlin likes in men. </p>
<p>Respectful. Kind. Doting. Arthur can do that. How hard could that be?</p>
<p>* </p>
<p>Arthur decides to start by giving Merlin a present. His first idea is to give him a new pair of boots - Merlin’s been wearing the same pair for years, and they’re horribly ratty. On second thought, though, Lord Nathaniel’s gift of a scarf seems much more romantic than boots, and shouldn’t Arthur be trying to outdo him? But maybe noticing what Merlin would actually appreciate is actually <em>more</em> romantic than buying him something fancy, because it means Arthur actually thought about it.</p>
<p>Arthur finally decides he’s already spent far too much time thinking about it, and gives him the damn boots.</p>
<p>It looks for a moment like he chose wrong – Merlin almost immediately looks suspicious. “This doesn’t come with some horrible trick, like, ‘now you have new boots, you’re ready for our 100-mile hike,’ does it?”</p>
<p>“Of course not,” Arthur says, and smiles into Merlin’s eyes. “I just thought you deserved something nice.”</p>
<p>Merlin looks even more suspicious. “Are there - toads, or something, in these boots?” he demands, sticking his hand in one and searching around.</p>
<p>“Toads? Really?” Arthur asks. “That’s the first thing you think of to put in boots?”</p>
<p>“No, that’s the first thing I think <em>you</em> would think of to put in boots.”</p>
<p>“I still think that says more about you than it does about me,” Arthur says. And then, because Merlin’s still feeling around inside the boots for some sort of trick, he adds, “<em>Honestly</em>, Merlin, it’s just a pair of boots because yours keep sprouting holes.”</p>
<p>“Oh,” Merlin says. “Well. Thank you.”</p>
<p><em>Finally.</em> “You’re welcome,” Arthur says.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>Arthur keeps doting.</p>
<p>Whenever he has the urge to insult Merlin, he compliments him instead. This turns out to be a lot of compliments. Arthur hadn’t realized quite how often he insulted Merlin before, but now he’s making an effort <em>not</em> to, he’s discovering it’s a lot.</p>
<p>Maybe there’s a reason Merlin liked Lord Nathaniel better.</p>
<p>His first few compliments go badly - once Merlin just laughs and says, “Did that sound more insulting in your head?” which - apparently Arthur <em>really</em> should’ve been nicer to him, since Merlin doesn’t believe Arthur would intentionally compliment him.</p>
<p>But when Merlin reminds him of an appointment he’d forgotten, Arthur says, “Thank you, I don’t know where I’d be without you,” and Merlin looks startled and then very pleased.</p>
<p>Later, he compliments Merlin’s eyes, and Merlin blushes and stammers complete nonsense in response.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>After a few weeks, he thinks he’s getting pretty good at it, and is considering what his next move should be - is it way too early to ask Merlin on a date? - when Merlin’s reactions start becoming unfavourable again. Even simply saying “Thank you” or “I appreciate you listening” to Merlin now makes him frown. Compliments like “You’re one of the kindest people I know” make him look like he wants to cry.</p>
<p>Arthur’s pretty sure he knows what’s happened: Merlin’s figured out that Arthur likes him, and he doesn’t return Arthur’s feelings. Arthur considers dropping the whole thing quietly and moving on, but decides he can’t do that on the slim chance that that’s <em>not</em> what Merlin’s thinking. After all, if Merlin’s actually sad about something else and Arthur suddenly goes back to insulting him, won’t that just make things worse?</p>
<p>So Arthur braces himself and brings it up one night.</p>
<p>"Er," he says, “I’ve noticed that lately you’ve been looking upset when I compliment you. I just wanted to say that I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, and I’ll stop, if you’re not okay with it.”</p>
<p>“No!” Merlin says quickly. “I mean… it’s nice. It’s just… are <em>you</em> okay?”</p>
<p>“Um,” Arthur says, because that makes absolutely no sense.</p>
<p>Merlin’s starting to look agitated. “Just tell me,” he says. “Are you dying?”</p>
<p>“<em>What</em>?” Arthur asks.</p>
<p>“You’re being really weird!” Merlin says. “You keep giving me things and saying nice things and telling me how much I mean to you. So, are you dying?”</p>
<p>“You think if I were dying, I’d choose to spend my last moments telling you how fantastic you are?” Arthur snarks, then realizes how mean that sounded and slams his mouth shut. Damn it. He starts trying to figure out how to word an apology, but before he can say anything, Merlin laughs with relief.</p>
<p>“Oh, thank <em>God</em>,” he says.</p>
<p>“This is getting a little insulting,” Arthur complains. “You really think I wouldn’t be nice to you unless I were dying?”</p>
<p>“Arthur, you’re an absolute prat,” Merlin says.</p>
<p>Well. Okay, fine, Arthur supposes he deserves that, but he did think he was doing a little bit better the past few weeks.</p>
<p>“I don’t mean that in a <em>bad</em> way,” Merlin adds, more gently, presumably in response to whatever Arthur’s face just did. “You know the reason you like me is because I’m a prat, too. That’s the reason we’re <em>friends</em>, Arthur.”</p>
<p>“...because we’re both prats?”</p>
<p>“Yes, and because we both know what we mean by it when we insult each other!” Merlin says. “For the record, I did <em>not</em> know what you meant by it when you said I have pretty eyes. What was that even supposed to <em>mean</em>?”</p>
<p>“It was supposed to mean that you have pretty eyes!” Arthur says, indignantly.</p>
<p>“<em>Why</em>?” Merlin demands.</p>
<p>“Because…” Arthur starts, and trails off. The whole thing had seemed reasonable  in his head, but if he’s just now realizing that if he actually explains it out loud, he’s going to sound ridiculous. Still, Merlin <em>does</em> deserve an explanation. “You seemed to like Lord Nathaniel because he was nice to you. So, I thought if I wanted to have a chance, I should be nicer.”</p>
<p>Merlin stares at him. “Gwaine <em>said</em> you were jealous,” he says after a moment.</p>
<p>Arthur scoffs. “I was <em>not</em> jealous.”</p>
<p>Merlin has a huge shit-eating grin growing on his face. Arthur kind of loves him for it. (Merlin was <em>not wrong</em> about the reason they like each other, he realizes.)</p>
<p>“You’re really cute when you’re jealous,” Merlin teases.</p>
<p>Arthur can feel himself blushing. He would protest again, but his brain stopped working a little when Merlin called him <em>cute</em>.</p>
<p>“You have absolutely nothing to be jealous of, though,” Merlin says softly, stepping towards Arthur. “Unfortunately for Nate, there’s this one particular prat I happen to really like.”</p>
<p>“Oh?” Arthur asks, still not really able to form words, because Merlin’s now very close to him.</p>
<p>“Yeah,” Merlin says, and leans in to kiss him.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>A short while later, Arthur murmurs, “You’re beautiful,” to Merlin, and Merlin pulls away.</p>
<p>He’s blushing, and he doesn’t look displeased, but he says, “You don’t have to keep doing that. I told you, you have nothing to worry about.”</p>
<p>Arthur picks his words carefully, because he doesn’t want Merlin to think this is still about jealousy, and he thinks he’s maybe been <em>too</em> much of a prat in the past. Merlin deserves someone who’s nice to him.</p>
<p>“I know, and I’ll be a prat a lot of the time, probably,” Arthur says, with a bit of a grin. “But I like telling you how special you are, and making you happy.”</p>
<p>“Oh,” Merlin says, and gives him that pleased smile that Arthur’s used to his best compliments getting.</p>
<p>Arthur’s glad that this time, he gets to lean in and kiss it.</p>
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